


Stowaway

by astudyinotters753



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, taking care of children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2018-07-18 11:01:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7312399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astudyinotters753/pseuds/astudyinotters753
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the off-season, Jack starts teaching Mini-Mites hockey again on the weekends.  Amidst all the chaos that comes with teaching 15 young kids, one of the children finds his way into Jack's hockey bag.  </p><p>Basically this was written really quickly in my beta's inbox on a whim because she asked for it.  So here, have some cute Zimbits taking care of a kid.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stowaway

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sterekat221B](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sterekat221B/gifts).



"Jack, why is there a small child in your hockey bag?" Bitty’s voice calls from the hallway.

It takes Jack a long moment to wrap his mind around his boyfriend’s words, and another few heartbeats to pull his head from the fridge where he’d been considering an afternoon snack. "Huh?" he asks.

"Jack," Bitty repeats, emphasizing Jack's name by hoisting the kid up to rest on his hip. "Why was there a small child IN YOUR HOCKEY BAG."

Jack stares. The little boy perched on Bitty’s hips can't be more than three years old, and was definitely the smallest of the Mini-Mites hockey kids Jack had coached that day. He remembers having to be very careful about where he skated, as the boy had spent most of the day clinging as tightly as he could to Jack's legs.

The boy is very pale, just like Jack has always been, with dark, messy hair and eyes the color of the honey-lemon tea Bitty always makes him when he’s sick. He looks so much like a combination of the two, that Jack had to remind himself not to play favorites during Mini-Mites hocker camp. Now, as he’s presented with the sight of Bitty holding this child, he feels something unnameable clench in his chest.

“Mon Dieu,” he mumbles, eyes listlessly darting back and forth from Bitty to the boy. “Cody was in my hockey bag?”

"Yeah," Bitty sighs, pulling one of the boy's hands away from where it's grabbed on to his sweatshirt string. "Found him when I was checking for dirty laundry."

It only takes Jack a few steps to cross the room and scoop Cody up in his arms. "Hey there, little guy," he says, his voice soft. "How long have you been in there? You must be hungry."

At the sound of Jack’s voice, Cody whips his head around to stare wide-eyed at him. “Mister Zee!” he squeals, bouncing into Jack’s arms willingly, “Mister Zee! Mister Zee!!”

After exchanging a look with Bitty, who looks properly exasperated by this point, Jack turns and returns to the fridge. “C’mon, Cody,” he coos to the boy. “Let’s get you something to eat while Mr. Bitty calls your mom, eh?”

The boy goes still as Jack shows him the inside of the fridge, his eyes widening as Jack speaks. "Mommy?" he whispers, tilting his head to the side.

"Yeah," Jack breathes, reaching out for the jar of homemade applesauce Bitty pulled from their pantry not too long ago. "She must be worried since you're with us, and not with her."

Cody shakes his head and balls his fists into Jack's white undershirt. "No Mommy!" he exclaims. "Mister Zee and Mister Bitty! Mister Zee and Mister Bitty!!"

Jack carefully sets Cody on the counter while he spoons some applesauce into a small dish for him. "Mister Bitty's nice to be around, eh?" he asks, rooting around in their silverware drawer for the smallest spoon he can find.

Cody nods enthusiastically and watches each move Jack makes. As Jack passes in front of him to put the jar of applesauce back into the fridge, Cody starts making grabby hands. Taking pity on the boy, Jack picks him up again, nestles him against his hip, and balances the applesauce bowl in his free hand. "You know, I think so too. Mister Bitty is pretty nice."

"Pretty!" Cody choruses between bites of applesauce. "Pretty Mister Bitty!"

Jack can't help but laugh at that, and sets the bowl down to avoid dropping it onto the floor.

That's how Bitty finds them, a few minutes later, Jack laughing and feeding Cody bites of food when he can. Cody keeps squealing whenever Jack speaks to him, and, bless his heart, he almost can't bring himself to tell Jack that Cody's mother is on her way to get him.

“So this is what happens when I turn around for just a minute?” Bitty says, his hands on his hips, a smile on his face.  "I come back and find y'all laughing at me?"

Jack’s head whips around to stare at him so fast, Bitty’s concerned he’s given himself whiplash. “N-no," he stutters too fast, cheeks growing hot.  "Everything okay, Bitty?” he asks.

“I think everything will be just fine,” Bitty says, bypassing Jack and Cody to pull out the peanut butter and bread from their pantry, “as soon as we get this little one some proper food. Honestly, Jack. Kids can’t survive on applesauce alone!”

Jack blushes sheepishly and keeps spooning applesauce into Cody’s mouth. Beside him, Bitty carefully spreads peanut butter on a single slice of bread, making sure to cover the whole thing to the edges.

“You know,” Bitty starts, setting the bread aside to reach for a banana. “When I was just a little boy, my grandmother would sometimes find me on her kitchen counters with the peanut butter jar in one hand and a butter knife in the other.”

Cody goes still between them and turns his big, honey-warm eyes to watch Bitty. “Peanut butter?” he asks.

“That’s right, sweetheart,” Bitty says, cutting up the banana into small slices before adding it to one half of the bread. “Peanut butter. My MooMaw says I was sat there, without a care in the world, licking peanut butter off that butter knife. Mama almost had a heart attack when she found out.”

When Bitty reaches for the honey bear above his head and upcaps it, Cody’s eyes widen. “Bear?” he whispers, ignoring Jack and the applesauce for Bitty.

“Mmmhhmm,” Bitty hums, drizzling honey over the top of the bananas before folding over the pieice of bread carefully and cutting it in half. “Now my MooMaw wouldn’t let my Mama make a big fuss over it. Do you know what she said?” he asks.

Cody shakes his head.

“Well, she turned to my Mama and said,” Bitty starts, pausing to take a deep breath and raise the pitch of his voice. “Now, Suzanne, this is what being a MooMaw is all about! You spoil your grandbabies and let them eat peanut butter out of the jar if they wanna!’”

Cody bursts into laughter at Bitty’s impression, and only calms down when he has half a sandwich clutched in his chubby hands. He eats it between bouts of giggles, and even finishes the rest of the applesauce Jack poured for him. Just as he finishes up and starts to droop on the counter, a car door shuts outside their door.

The doorbell rings just as Jack is finishing wiping Cody’s hands clean, and Bitty scoops him off the counter and heads to the front door. They watch, in relative silence, as Cody’s relieved mother takes her son and bundles him into his carseat in the backseat of her car.

“Hey, Bits?” Jack starts as Cody’s mother bends to press a kiss to her son’s head.

“Yeah, Sugar?” Bitty replies.

“I want one,” Jack admits, his voice so tiny, he’s not even sure Bitty heard him.

Bitty's quiet for a moment, and watches as Cody's mother pull out of their driveway, heads down the street, and turns right at the stop sign. “I know, Jack,” he replies, just as quiet.

A lump forms in Jack's throat. "Do you?" he finally manages to croak, his voice breaking at the end.

Bitty's reply comes a touch later, as he leans his shoulder gently against Jack’s. “Someday,” he offers.

"I like that sound of that," Jack murmurs, wrapping an arm around Bitty's middle, relishing in the heat and solidness of his waist. “I think I can work with ‘someday’, eh?”

"Mmhhmm," Bitty hums, leaning up on his tiptoes to press a peck to the corner of Jack's mouth. "I think someday is good.”

"Whatever you want, Bits," Jack replies, watching Bitty with fondness in his smile as he walks through their apartment back to their laundry room.

"What I want right now is for you to stop bringing home kids from the ring, Mister Zimmermann!" Bitty chirps, throwing a dirty towel towards his boyfriend. "Lord knows I have trouble resisting you when you don't have a sweet, little thing in your arms."

Jack catches the towel and tugs Bitty back towards the couch, pulling him on his lap.  "I haven't heard you ever complain about me having you in my arms before, Bittle," he chirps back.

Bitty blushes something furious and buries his face in Jack's neck. "Mister Zimmermann," he breathes, trying not to laugh. "You are ridiculous.”

“You love it when I’m ridiculous,” Jack counters.

Bitty laughs against his skin and nods. “Yeah,” he agrees, wrapping his arms around Jack’s middle. “Lord help me, I really do.”

And as they sit there, tangled on the couch together, basking in the afternoon sunlight with all thoughts of snacks forgotten, Jack Zimmermann smiles.


End file.
